Thread by @shrikanth_krish

Actually the continued existence of Congress as a "national" party is contingent on the continuance of the dynasty

This isn't as crazy as it sounds

In the absence of Gandhis, Congress has no reason to exist. No narrative to support its existence

(Contd..)

https://twitter.com/akshayalladi/status/1132252149088378881

Imagine if Gandhis are severed from the Congress...

Then what is the Congress narrative?

Today it is secularism, constitutional patriotism, culture-agnosticism

The Nehrus, whether we like it or not, epitomize this

So do the old chelas of the Nehrus and their progeny

Kids who were chums with Sanjay and Rajeev...Men like Kamal Nath, the Scindias, the Pilots etc

If you sever your link with this family and its eco-system, you are left with nothing...

Why should Congress even exist? Its leaders can either join BJP, if they are sympathetic to cultural nationalist narrative

Else they can join the numerous regionalist, caste-based parties

The only reason Congress exists is because it is an alternative to a polity organized around caste

And an alternative to cultural nationalism

I say this as a BJP supporter

And it will remain so, ONLY until the link with the JNU, Doon-school, Oxbridge crowd is maintained

The Vadra-Gandhis, however moronic and evil, are a totem.

A symbolic glue holding hundreds and thousands of party workers around that "narrative"

Take them out. And Congress has no reason to exist

That narrative will die

And if you notice this family closely

They have consciously tried to epitomize this idea of India that transcends culture

Nehru - A Pandit
Feroze - A Parsi
Sonia - An Italian
Vadra - a half Khatri-half Scot

So in a sense they are a symbol. Public figures who tell us - Hey...you can be Indian without practicing Indian culture

They epitomize this deep-seated urge among much of the Indian elite to build an Indian state from the scratch

To build an India without Indian culture

In 1952, this elite was v small in size

So Congress under Nehru sought to use Mr Gandhi as its totem. Its symbol

Nobody could accuse Gandhi of being deracinated. At least not in 1952.

Over time, the "cosmopolitan elite" has grown in size.

Meanwhile, memories of Gandhi have faded. How many people are alive today who were adults when Gandhi was shot? Very few.

So over time, Congress has attempted to make its case for cosmopolitanism and constitutional patriotism more explicit.

It became particularly explicit after SItaram Kesri's exit, and Sonia's rise to power

In the post-Sonia Congress, what was merely an impossible dream for the likes of Nehru, was now much more explicit

The project now was to turn India into a culture-agnostic nation

To make a billion people behave as though they are all from East Village, NYC or Soho London

It is not going to work

But the family is the best chance for Congress to push that "dream" - a dream that is shared by very large sections of the Indian urban elite